In Seoul, at an appeals court where a school official was convicted of raping a 13-year-old deaf girl, the rapist was sentenced to only one year in prison. When the sentence was announced, a middle-aged-man (also deaf) let out an incomprehensible cry that seemed to be shouting "This is wrong! This is wrong!". Thee man was forcibly removed for disrupting the courtroom.
The emotion, and action of this middle-aged man caused Gong Ji-young to write a novel based on the Inhwa School for the hearing impaired that exposed stories of sexual assaults and abuses on the deaf students that attended that school. The successful novel was turned into a movie called "Dogani" or "The Crucible". Released on September 22nd, about 4.4 million people have seen it. About 10th of the country's population have seen the movie (including the South Korean president Lee Myung-bak).
What happened when people saw the movie? Wide-spread anger and disbelief over the reluctance of the government and officials for not taking sexual crimes seriously, and how the sentencing is not served with justice. Because of the movie, the cabinet of South Korea has promised to inspect all school facilities for the minors and disabled to rid of sexual abuse, and teachers practicing such disgusting actions.
All of this reaction is seen from a low budget movie. This is incredible at just how a movie can truly affect a society.
In the Inhwa case mentioned at the beginning, four teachers and administers were convicted of raping/sexually molesting at least eight students. Many of these students were mentally disabled, or orphaned. It's recorded that only two of the four actually served any jail time. This injustice was acknowledged in the film, and hopefully society will see that it's best to rule out these horrid people.
In the last year, 320 sexual crimes were reported. The government estimates that only 10% of victims actually report sexual crimes for fear of being shamed in public trials.
As you can see, this movie (although low-budget) has made such an impact in the South Korean society, that it's apparent that change is going to happen very very soon. I'm so happy to hear that something is being done.
사랑,
Tai Le
- Film Underscores Koreans' Growing Anger Over Sex Crimes
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